When the Guardians, Thieves, and Elementalists of Guild Wars 2 aren't busy building their legend, they'll be building guns, gadgets, and gears via the game's comprehensive crafting system. ArenaNet details how the game's eight crafting professions get the job done.

Crafting is an integral part of any massively-multiplayer online game, driving the player economy in ways that simple dropped loot never could. With eight different crafting professions and never-ending gathering nodes open to everyone, Guild Wars 2 players might spend as much time creating as they do destroying.

Along with creating pieces of useful equipment and consumables, crafters will also be able to create upgrades for their own gear.

Players may actively pursue any two crafting disciplines at the same time, giving them access to a fairly wide array of lucrative recipes. Guild Wars 2 is all about accessibility, however, so players will be able to swap out other professions at a cost, maintaining the skill levels in each profession they've reached when they switch back, with higher levels of proficiency equaling a higher cost to swap.

Crafting professions are nothing without raw materials. Every player in Guild Wars 2 will be able to gather these materials, either by using salvage kits to break down unwanted items, looting them from monsters, or harvesting them from resource nodes scattered about the world. Unlike other games, resource nodes do not fade away when a player uses them, meaning no ridiculous fights over who stole who's virtual bits of rock.

The crafting interface itself is relatively simple. Players find a crafting station, open up the menu, and combine up to four items together in order to create a new item. Along with a set list of recipes available from vendors, players will be able to discover new recipes on their own, setting them apart from other crafters and creating demand for crafters that have figured out rare recipes.

With 400 skills points to earn in each discipline and the goal that no player be forced to create something they consider useless while leveling these skills, Guild Wars 2's crafting system might wind up being responsible for more than a few destroyed villages, as defenders neglect their duty, spending their time creating bigger and better things instead.